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art of argument review

Logically we all need to do study logic, right?

Part of our family’s junior high/high school curriculum goals is to have our children receive one credit in logic. We want them to expand their critical thinking skills and to be able to articulate and defend their point of view well. Part of that training? Comes through understanding the art of argument — and thus, the book bundle The Art of Argument from Classical Academic Press, has become an excellent tool for this portion of their education.

Our family was able to review The Art of Argument over the last six weeks. Now, since this curriculum is so in depth, I don’t feel that I can give you a broad picture of the entire curriculum. Instead, I can share with you what I love, what I’m looking forward to, and what my eighth grade daughter, Chloe, thought of the curriculum.

Loves: The art, the way the course is structured, and the teaching style. This book is composed in such a way that it makes delving into logic, debate, and critical thinking easy. This book is geared for middle high schoolers, but coupled with a couple other books I would have no problem giving high school credit for completion of the book. In fact, if a high school student has had no formal logic education this book can be used as a starting point.

Looking forward to: Further studies in the book. Ad Fontem Arguments, Appeals to Emotion, Red Herrings, Presumptions, Fallacies of Presupposition, Fallacies of Induction, and Fallacies of Clarity. Each of these sections is broken down into specific categories. I love the indepth approach and the focus on critical thinking. I am also grateful for for the “advertising” pages within the book that teaches a student to look for fallacies/logical errors within the ads. This skill of discernment is critical in today’s advertising rich world.

Chloe’s thoughts: For one who was, “not too interested” in learning about logic she very much enjoyed the Art of Argument and is looking forward to finishing it up. She likes the lengths of the lessons, the question prompts, and those ad pages.

Final thoughts: Chloe will keep using this program throughout the rest of this year and probably will aim to finish it by spring or early next year. After that, I know that we as a family, will get many more years of use out of The Art of Argument. Thank you to Classical Academic Press for the review!

Details: To purchase The Art of Argument via Classical Academic Press click Here. Student Guide retails for $21.95 and the Teacher’s Guide for $24.95 To read other reviews click Here.

Disclaimer: I received The Art of Argument, as a member of the tos crew, for no compensation in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own, and any pictures other than the stock photos are also my own.

2 Responses to “art of argument review”

I very much enjoyed your review. I really think this is something my daughter, 14, would benefit from. Did you feel the teacher edition was necessary, or is the student edition enough? How long (approx.) was each lesson? Can the lessons be done orally, or does she need to write out all her answers?

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A mom that shows up. Day after day, night after night. Good day after Good day. Hard day after Hard day. Ordinary day, Normal day, Just a day. Loving your kids. That, my friends, is what matters. That is Motherhood.